Variation #11 twilight with violet

5x12 pastel on BFK
Memory, enhanced. Different palette, still with my favorite color, violet. Some how violet always sneaks her head into each painting. I am starting to like the edge of darkness.

Nocturne of Green

5x12 pastel on BFK (right), detail-left
A nocturne is a musical composition inspired by the beauty of night. It was Whistler who first applied musical terminology to visual art by titling his paintings Harmonies, Nocturnes, or Symphonies. In his essay "The Gentle Art of Making Enemies," he wrote: "As music is the poetry of sound so is painting the poetry of sight." Painting for Whistler was about  arranging colors in beautiful harmony.
Whistler was on my mind as I painted this variation. I am preparing for the color work on the painting I prepared yesterday. What better way than to do another variation based on the color harmony I desire for this painting.
Sometimes painting is about planning, sometimes it's about insight and intuition, and most of all sometimes it's about happy accidents that are recognized before covered!

think, thomas cole (variation 9)

5x12 finished beforenotes

I keep thousands of little papers of color notes. Notes that remind me of  the landscapes and skies I see. I try to record them (later) in my sketchbook. This particular note I looked for and found on my studio floor. I had remembered it well. The painting started out well. I should have known when to stop. When finishing my last strokes I couldn't help think of Thomas Cole.
There are many Cole's downtown in the NGA. Dramatic is a word I would use to describe his work. He was the founder of the Hudson River School of painters. Frederic Church (one of my faves) was one of his students.

variation 7/ snow falling

12x5 pastel on BFK
I woke up during the middle of the night and saw the snow coming down. The sky was a beautiful dusty orange color. I watched for awhile then went to the studio to try a new variation.

the wall of variations

variation 6 /How do you take charge of your growth as an artist?

Early Morning's Slow Awakening 12 x 5 pastel on BFK
My sunrise frozen walk in the neighborhood inspired this. Oh, do I wish I lived right next to a body of water!  I don't so; I create one:-)
The more I do these, the more I am thinking about the edges. Lost and found, hard and soft it's a rhythm. So few hard edges are ever needed, but if it gets too soft it is fuzzy and out of focus.

Just a little note, prompted by Doug's comment; yes, I will still do plein air. And I will not just post variations. I made a promise to myself this year to come completely out of my comfort zone and take more risks. What that means is I will be alternating plein air and memory work. Plein air is my comfort zone. Memory work is what is really making me grow. 
What do you think about your own growth as an artist? How do you take charge?

variation 5, turner's sky

5x 12 pastel on BFK

I am already loving doing these variations. Pick a color... let it speak to you.  I am venturing out and  trying different color combinations. Since the sky determines the color of everything I am working with a mostly sky format. This  format was out of my comfort range for a long time- read lots of high horizons. I'm done with that now, time to move on ;-)

variations, continued

 5x12

orange variation
I am playing with color trying to create volume and luminosity. No references exist now; I am in no man's land (or make that no woman's land.) Relying only on my color intuition, I place a color down and watch. Change one color and they are all different. That simultaneous contrast is at work again.

leah's moon

Have you seen Marla Baggetta's marvelous 100 variations?  Here's a link. For a real treat check them out now.  WOW! Watching her do those inspired me to work on my own version of variations. Here is another form the long verticals/lake needwood. As per her suggestion, I just began with a color and watched where it took me. I did not know I would be doing the blue moon snow version when I began. I just wanted to meld the idea of calm areas and energetic marked areas.

On another note, my best friend Leah loves the moon, especially the blue moon. So this one is for her. The blue moon only happens every once and awhile. The moon has a cycle of 28 days and a blue moon means the ending of 2 moon cycles in one month, otherwise two full moons in a month. This year it happened on new year's eve. All kinds of celebrations happen on the blue moon.